Niina Lehtonen Braun investigates the roles of women and their associated expectations and ties to the female generational line. In her medium of collage painting she combines drawing, text and ink painting with photography. She uses her works to build narrative installations that often draw from her own life experiences or those of her friends or relatives. For Lehtonen Braun, language is the main promoter of the sense of belonging. It is through language that we gain access to culture, literature, poetry, humour, conversation, proverbs and songs. It was also through language that she discovered a sense of belonging after she moved to Berlin and learned German.

Lehtonen Braun’s works are often thematic series, which take a long time to develop and consist of hundreds of pictures. Some pictures belong to more series than one, and the artist also combines series in her installations. In her latest series, Lehtonen Braun explores women in her own family, her own place in her lineage, and the connections between different generations.

Niina Lehtonen Braun was born in Helsinki in 1975, and she has been living and working in Berlin since 2000. Lehtonen Braun has family roots in Saarijärvi, Pylkönmäki and Kannonkoski. Her extensive output comprises collage installations and also art books and performances.

Niina Lehtonen Braun’s working is kindly supported by Kone Foundation.